


Open Casket

by nishiki



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Buried Alive, Character Death, Dealing With Loss, Dealing With Trauma, Death, Diego is blaming himself for Klaus' death, Family Loss, Gen, Guilt, Heavy Angst, Hero Complex, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Immortality, Klaus is immortal, Loss, Luther tries to be a good brother, Mentions of Injuries, Pre-Season/Series 01, Protective Allison Hargreeves, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Protective Hargreeves Siblings, Protective Luther Hargreeves, Protective Vanya Hargreeves, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Sad, Sad with a Happy Ending, Siblings, The siblings versus Reginald, Tragedy, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Wakes & Funerals, body disposal, mentions of assault, mentions of rape/non-con outside of the story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:41:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23498437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nishiki/pseuds/nishiki
Summary: Diego Hargreeves had always known that the day would come that he would be called to identify the dead body of his brother Klaus. He just wished it hadn't been so soon.
Relationships: Allison & Ben & Diego & Number Five | The Boy & Klaus & Luther & Vanya Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves & Diego Hargreeves, Allison Hargreeves & Reginald Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Eudora Patch, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Luther Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Reginald Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Reginald Hargreeves, Luther Hargreeves & Reginald Hargreeves, Reginald Hargreeves & The Hargreeves, Reginald Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 40
Kudos: 906
Collections: The Best of Klaus





	Open Casket

**Author's Note:**

> Sometimes an idea hits me square in the face and I can't do anything but writing it down. Apologies in advance

It was something that Diego Hargreeves had always dreaded. Something, he had always known was coming sooner or later. He had always felt it in his bones that, one day, he would end up here in this situation. He only had hoped that the day wouldn't come so soon. He had been at the gym when the call came. Eudora, of all people, his ex-girlfriend whom he had seen last three years ago, had called him in the wee hours of the morning, asking him to come to the station. He hadn't known right away what it was about, expected to find his brother Klaus behind bars after getting arrested for one more petty little crime he had committed.

When he saw that he was not the only one who had been contacted from his family, though, his stomach dropped at the realization where the path would lead him this time around. 

As he walked through the double doors into the precinct, he almost ran into his sister Vanya who looked like she had just rolled out of bed, and his brother Luther, already prim and proper like daddy dearest expected him to be. They stood side by side near the doors like they didn't quite know what to do. 

Diego had last seen his siblings, with the exception of Klaus who had been in and out of his life, when he left the academy five years ago right after turning seventeen. Meeting them now was odd. They looked exactly the same as they had back then, with the only change being that all of them had dropped the last remainders of their baby fat and the softness to their faces. Luther was even allowed to have a beard now as it seemed. Wow. Well, it was either that or he hadn't gotten around to shaving this morning.

"Diego?" Luther addressed him in confusion as Number Two walked into the precinct and more or less ran straight into his other two siblings. "What are you doing here?"

"I was called to come over." He shouldn't feel or sound as defensive as he now did, but Luther had a way to get under his skin with just a couple of words like no one else ever could. It was a talent, he supposed. "Why re you guys here?"

"Same reason." Luther shrugged but Vanya said nothing and just stared at her feet. She looked absolutely tiny and uncomfortable as they stood there together. Well, it must be intimidating to be in this situation with her two least favorite human beings on this planet. She would never outright say it but Diego knew that he had not always been the best brother to his ordinary sister and was certainly one of the very few people on this planet she would want to see. "A Detective Patch called us and told us to come. It has something to do with Klaus. Well, she called Dad, of course, but-"

"The old man couldn't be bothered to come and sent you," Diego concluded with a frown. It was just so typical of the old man to send his favorite instead of getting his wrinkly old ass here himself. 

"He has more important things to do than take care of Klaus and his antics."

"Apparently." The unsettled feeling in his stomach only worsened at the thought that Reginald Hargreeves himself had been called to come to this precinct. This was not one of Klaus’ typical shenanigans then. It couldn't be. Otherwise, Eudora would have just called him over to bail his brother out like she, or rather her partner Chuck, had done so many times by now.

"Diego!" He would recognize Eudora’s voice under a thousand and it made his blood run cold with dread. Somehow, they had managed to avoid each other each time he had come here to pick up Klaus like normal people picked up delivery food. Right now, however, it seemed important enough for Eudora to address this situation herself. Not a good sign. She approached the trio after leaving a room at the side of the bullpen that Diego recognized as her captain’s office. She looked good with her hair neatly tied back and wearing no longer the uniform of an officer but a leather jacket and a nice blue blouse underneath, her badge clipped to her belt. 

Eudora, always anxious to make the impression to have everything under control, seemed nervous, however. For once, Diego could tell that it was not because of their past in any way. She was doing this thing with her hands that he only did when she was getting nervous. He recognized the motions from their training at the academy when they had practiced the more tough conversations with the loved ones of victims.

_ Please _ , he thought to himself,  _ tell me he got beaten up or injured or something. Anything else but this.  _

As she had reached the trio, she paused for a moment to look at him before directing her attention towards Vanya and Luther. "You must be Miss Vanya Hargreeves." She turned to Vanya and his sister nodded quickly, forcing a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "And you must be Luther." 

"My father sent me over."

"Yes, so he said on the phone." Eudora forced a smile but it was clear how stilted and off-kilter it was. More and more his heart started racing and his palms became sweaty. 

"Just tell us why we’re here, okay?" Diego addressed his ex with a sigh. He tried to play down his own anxiety with annoyance but he knew that he wouldn't be able to fool her. "Please, Eudora. It's about Klaus, isn't it? What did he do this time?"

For once, she didn't even comment on his use of her much-hated first name. She just took a deep breath instead. That wasn’t good. He knew that technique and he dreaded to hear what would come out of her mouth next.

"Miss Hargreeves, Mr. Hargreeves, Diego" That was her cop voice. It was her serious, somber voice. "I’d like you to follow me." While Vanya and Luther exchanged confused looks, Diego’s heart sunk and he followed Eudora silently.

Yes, he had known that this day would come sooner or later, he had known that it was inevitable. Never a question of  _ if  _ but  _ when _ . That didn't make it any easier, though. That didn't make it any less like he was walking into his own doom. He noticed the looks the trio caught from the other officers as they walked by. He noticed the way Chuck Beaman leaned against his desk with a file clasped nervously in his hands and an expression as if he had bitten into a lemon. Most of the officers and detectives in his precinct knew Diego from his monthly pick-ups of Klaus but pretty much everyone here knew him, Luther, and Klaus as members of the famous Umbrella Academy.

The procession headed towards a narrow door in the back. Not the door that led to the holding cells, though. The door that led to the forensics department. Eudora let them in first and then took the lead back down the white corridor. It smelled like chemical cleaners and cheap linoleum. At the end of the hallway waited the door everyone dreaded to step through and Diego felt himself pause like a horse that didn't want to jump over a hindrance. If his siblings still didn't know where this was headed, he wished to swap places with them. Not knowing was better. 

When they reached the door, Eudora paused again with her hand on the doorknob. "I’m very sorry." He turned to the trio. "But we need you to identify someone." She wouldn't say it was Klaus. She knew it was Klaus, had seen him often enough to know. This was police protocol and though she knew who the man in there was, she had to put them through this regardless. 

"I can go alone." He whispered more than he actually said it.

"No." Luther said instead. "We are doing this together." As always, he didn't even consider that Vanya might rather not see this. Eudora gave a little nod and opened the door for them to file in. Inside was just the pathologist, waiting for the trio to file in and for Eudora to close the door. They took position at the side of the metal table in the middle of the room, next to the figure that was under that white sheet.

The pathologist gave them all a grim little nod before he slowly pulled back the white sheet from the face of the dead person underneath. Beside him, Vanya let out a whine like he had never heard before out of the throat of his sister. It was an animalistic, hurt sound that came from the very back of the throat and the depths of the soul. On his other side, Luther remained quiet but stiff and Diego plainly refused to look down. He knew it was Klaus. He didn't need to see his brother’s pale face. He could feel it. He had felt it. A shift in the universe, hours ago. He had woken up this morning knowing that something was wrong, that something had changed, that something was missing. 

"Is that him?" Eudora asked quietly. "Is this your brother?"

"Yes," Luther said but his voice was gravelly and heavy. "It's Klaus." 

A part of him wanted to put his arm around Vanya as she couldn't stop the flood of tears or the sobs that were wrecking her body but he couldn't move a muscle because if he would, he would break apart at the seams. 

"What happened?" He found himself whispering as he finally looked down at Klaus. His face was as white as the sheet that had been covering it up before. His lips were blue, his eyes open and staring vacantly at the ceiling. There were bruises littering the right side of his face, a deep cut that ran through the left corner of his mouth. He could see even more bruising on his throat as if someone had strangled him, going down to his collarbone and probably continuing underneath the sheet.

Eudora cleared her throat at that. "We got a call this morning from a shop owner who found one of the dumpsters behind his shop open. When he looked inside he found … him." She wanted to say,  _ ‘your brother’  _ or  _ ‘Klaus’  _ but couldn't bring herself to do so. She tried to be professional and level-headed and to keep her distance from the case but it seemed impossible even for her. She knew how much worse it would be to say his name or say ‘  _ your brother’  _ after a sentence like this. It would make it more real. 

The facts were still there, though. His brother, his little baby brother, had been found in a dumpster like trash. 

She looked at the pathologist and the man cleared his throat before speaking. "I want to express my sincere condolences." He said first while Vanya tried taking deep steadying breaths beside Diego. He could tell by the way she was fidgeting, that she wanted to touch Klaus but was too afraid to. 

"How did he die?" Luther asked.

"I came to the conclusion that the most probable cause of death was blunt-force trauma." The man said. "He had a high level of all kinds of drugs in his system when he was found but he didn't overdose. He was attacked sometime last night, probably around 2 AM, beaten and strangled, but what killed him was a blow to the side of the head. It is my estimation that he was kicked in the head repeatedly until his skull broke."

"I’m gonna throw up." Vanya whispered and it was Eudora who sprung into action - not to grab a bucket for Vanya but to gently put her arm around her shoulders and lead her outside. Diego too wanted to throw up. More importantly, he wanted to beat someone or something. He wanted to destroy something.

"Did he suffer?" Luther whispered by his side and he wanted to jump at him. Of course, their brother had suffered! 

"It was … not a quick death." The man said in response. It was the gentler way to affirm that Klaus had suffered before finally succumbing to death. "And in my estimation, he wasn’t dead when he was placed in that dumpster." 

He wanted to throw something. He wanted to rampage and turn this room upside down. Someone had killed his little brother and thrown him away like trash. They didn't even have the decency to give him a quick death! They made him suffer, beaten him to death and thrown him away and Klaus had probably felt  _ everything _ . He had been lying in this filth, knowing that no one would come to save him in time and he had died alone out there.

"Was he … assaulted?" Why did his brother want to make this even more painful for all of them? Why was he asking so many questions? It clicked in him too late that those were the questions Dad would have asked. Dad, who wanted to know every little detail to note them down in his little red notebook. 

"There is evidence of rape, yes." The pathologist stated quietly. "I can assure you, that the detectives on the case will do their best to find the person that did this to your brother." 

It wasn’t like Diego wouldn't trust Eudora or the rest of her police force but in that very moment, as he stood there, staring down at his dead brother’s pale face with his worst nightmare laid bare in front of him, he knew that he would find that guy himself. And when he had found him, this man would wish that Diego wouldn't do the same thing to him as he did to his baby brother.

※※※※※※※

The funeral was four days later. Sir Reginald Hargreeves had wanted this situation dealt with as quickly as possible and so he had arranged everything right after the police had cleared the body of his son. Surely, not without a little financial persuasion from Reginald’s side.

Unlike Ben, Klaus got an open coffin for the funeral in that little church down the road. His father had shied no expenses for his glossy black coffin or the silk that was used for the interior. They all knew that this was not about Klaus but about the public perception. Now Klaus lay there with his jaws wired shut so that his mouth wouldn't pop open and his eyes taped so they wouldn't slip and stare. In his coffin, Klaus looked asleep. For once, there were no worry lines on his young face, no signs of some nightmare he would suffer. He looked peaceful and the makeup was hiding every trace of the trauma he had suffered.

Allison came from L.A. to be there but Diego could tell that she’d much rather wanted to be anywhere else but standing at her brother’s open coffin looking down on him. She was wearing Gucci and hid her face behind a veil during their ceremony - which was more for the paparazzi outside of the little church than to actually hide her tears. They sat in the first row with their father on the other side of the aisle together with Grace and Pogo. Other than them, there was no one else there. 

His brother had had no friends in life. He had had no one who cried for him except his siblings - and after the police station, not even Vanya had shed any more tears in Diego’s presence. He himself couldn't bring himself to shed a single tear as he stared at his brother's face in the coffin or later when they watched the coffin get lowered into the ground. He paid no attention to the sermon of the priest the entire time. He didn't listen to the speech his brother Luther gave about Klaus while they all knew Klaus would agree with nothing he said and that it should be Diego speaking about his little brother. The brother he couldn't protect. 

Four days had passed and the police had not yet found his brother’s killer. 

Grace was the first one to throw a red rose onto Klaus’ coffin after it was in the ground, followed by Allison and Vanya. Pogo seemed to have a hard time standing leaned on his cane as he cried bitter tears and let a rose fall into the hole one of his beloved children lay in. Reginald stood back and watched how Luther followed what everyone else had been doing and Diego could hardly bring himself to walk up to that hole in the ground at all. He was the last one to approach the fresh grave and for a long moment, he just stood there and stared down on his brother’s coffin before dropping the rose he held. 

They had been seven and now they were four. They were four and he hadn't been able to protect his little brother and now he was lying in a hole in the ground, dressed in a suit his father had custom made for him for this occasion, with his curly hair neatly trimmed and with makeup that was covering up his bruises as if nothing had ever happened. He should have been there to protect his brother, the one sibling he had held contact with, the one sibling he had looked after out there in the world.

How often had Klaus called him from some payphone in the middle of nowhere to pick him up in the middle of the night? How often had Diego let him sleep in his own bed and treated his wounds after someone had roughed him up a little? Why hadn't he been there this time? He should’ve been there. He should’ve done something.

The imagery didn't leave him alone of his brother in that dumpster. His precious brother, discarded in such a way. This had always been one of his most gruesome nightmares. Finding out that his brother had been killed and then just left somewhere as if he was nothing more than a bag of trash, as if he was not part of someone’s family. It was too much to bear for him and yet, he was the only one who stayed behind for a few more moments as dirt was shoveled onto his brother’s coffin. He just watched, as the rain started to pound down on him, how the gravediggers were closing his brother’s grave, casting him in the eternal darkness that Klaus had always been the most afraid of. Suddenly, he felt like he couldn't breathe. 

Klaus had always been afraid of the darkness and of small spaces and how could he turn his back and leave his little brother alone in his worst nightmare? 

"Diego" Luther’s voice was soft and his touch careful as he put his hand on Diego’s shoulder. He wanted to push his hand away, wanted to start fighting because nothing made sense anymore and he needed to do something that was familiar to him. He didn't have the strength to fight anymore. He hadn't slept since the day Klaus had died. He had ignored every call that had come his way from Eudora, even told Al to tell her that he wasn’t at the gym in case she came to visit him. She would want to talk and he couldn't do that. He didn't know how. He had never learned how. He couldn't even cry and mourn his beloved brother. He felt numb and lost and empty. And he was angry. He was so, so angry at Klaus. Klaus, who left him behind like this. Klaus, who just went on without him.

"Diego … come … the others are waiting…"

"I … He … "

"You can't do anything for him anymore," Luther mumbled and as Diego looked at Luther, rain was already dripping from Luther’s neatly combed-back blonde hair. "He’s okay…" 

The way he said it sounded almost hopeful.  _ He’s okay  _ \- as if he meant it. As if their brother was not currently being buried underneath tons of dirt. It only now started to really dawn on Diego that he would never see his brother again. There would be no more calls in the middle of the night for him. No more late-night pancake adventures with Klaus at Griddy’s. No more drunken singing from the gym showers.

He felt his knees go weak and buckle under his weight but Luther was there to catch him.

Slowly, he allowed Luther to lead him away from the graveside only to pause as he thought he heard something from the grave. It was faint, like a muffled scream but then he walked away with a sigh. His mind was playing tricks on him and he was starting to hear things that weren’t real just because he so desperately wanted his brother to be alive. Together, Luther and Diego walked away from the scene and back to the car they had come in.

Outside the graveyard, a horde of paparazzi and reporters stood by. The flashes of their cameras reminded Diego of a thunderstorm and of Klaus sneaking into his bed in the middle of the night because he was afraid of the lightning. The graveyard wasn’t far from the house, not even quite worth the drive but they wanted to escape the media frenzy that were harping on them ever since it became public that yet another member of the Umbrella Academy had bit the dust at such a young age. 

Klaus Hargreeves, the Séance, was dead and the media came down on the remaining four Hargreeves siblings like vultures.

※※※※※※※

It was almost midnight and the remaining four Hargreeves siblings were still sitting in the grand living room of their former home. Luther seemed almost happy to have them all back here now. Diego couldn't fathom how or why his brother had never left the place but he seemed glad to no longer be alone in this house anymore with just Pogo, their mother, and Sir Reginald. The funeral had been in the late afternoon and ever since then, the family hadn't left the house. They had eaten the dinner Grace had prepared and if she would be a human being, Diego would assume that the copious amounts of foods had come as a result of her grieving process. Then again, he had always known that Mom was more human than Reginald could ever hope to be. 

One reason why no one had wanted to leave was the group of paparazzi outside but they were long gone now. Apparently, they had given up. Surely, if he would switch on any TV now he would see footage of his family at the graveyard and that thought alone made his skin crawl. 

Their father had hardly talked all through the day - which was rare for someone as cock-sure of himself as Sir Reginald Hargreeves. He would have expected Reginald to talk about Klaus and what a shame it was that his son had thrown his life away like this. He didn't, though. Either he didn't really care or he couldn't bring himself to address the situation at all. Maybe, for once, Reginald was wise enough to keep his mouth shut if he didn't want to risk Diego throwing something at him. 

Reginald had retired to his study after dinner and the siblings stayed behind in the living room close to the bar and the alcohol it provided. Diego wasn't much of a drinker but tonight it was exactly what he needed. His siblings seemed to feel much of the same thing and neither of them really talked. Allison had tried to make conversation ever since they returned from the graveyard. She had tried to dig up old stories from their childhood about their chaotic brother but none of them had really reacted to it. None of them could find humor in anything she had to say or were interested in her stories about Hollywood, even though Vanya was polite enough to act like she cared. Diego, however, couldn't even bring himself to pretend - not after the way Klaus had died, not while the rest of them had those images of Klaus on that metal table in their minds. Allison hadn't been there. She didn't understand.

As the grandfather clock in the entrance hall chimed midnight and thunder rolled across the sky, Allison tried yet again: "Hey remember that time when Klaus-"

"It's my fault." Diego finally said what he had been thinking all throughout the day and what his other siblings surely thought as well but didn't dare to say.

"What?" Vanya hastily whispered. As he looked at her, she quickly looked away and hid behind her whiskey glass. Her eyes were puffy and red. He hadn't realized that she had been crying again. She, of all the siblings, probably had had the least close bond with Klaus and yet she had been crying for him.

"It's my fault." He repeated, this time clearer. "I wasn't out patrolling that night. I should’ve been out there. If I had been out in the streets, I would have been able to prevent it. I should have been out there." 

"Diego" Allison tried and brushed a well-manicured hand over his arm. They were all hovering around the bar. Allison was to his right, Vanya to his left and Luther leaned against the wall on the other side with a bottle of beer between his fingers. He couldn't remember seeing Luther drink ever in his life. Apparently, there was a first time for everything. "It's not your fault. The only one at fault is the asshole that killed him! You couldn't have known any of what was going to happen! It's not your job to save everyone and Klaus … He was playing a dangerous game out there. We all knew that, sooner or later, we would have been attending his funeral. It was only a matter of time. It just … shouldn't have been this early. Twenty-two … I mean … he was too young. But we always knew he would die too young."

"That doesn't make it right."

"I'm not saying that!" She sighed but sounded way more defensive than she should as she was looking at all her siblings as if hoping for support of them. "I’m just as devastated as you are, Diego, but- You can't beat yourself up like this. You can't start thinking like this now or it will break you completely. It  _ will  _ destroy you if you start thinking like this. Please, Diego. It's not your fault. And they will find the guy who did this to him. We’ll get justice for Klaus, right?"

"I’m gonna find that guy myself." He whispered into his whiskey glass before downing the rest that was still inside and quickly refilling it. "I’m gonna find him and I will rip him limb from limb. I will … I…" He couldn't breathe again. "I’ve seen the photos."

"What photos?" Luther asked cautiously but as Diego looked up to meet his brother’s blue eyes, he could see understanding flickering behind them.

"The crime scene photos."

"What?" Allison shot and put her hand on his arm again, this time squeezing to get his attention. "Why?  _ How  _ ?"

"I … I asked Beaman, Eudora’s partner. He didn't want to show them to me but he did, eventually. It was easy, I just had to play it up a bit and he caved." He shrugged. "I can't forget what I saw. I can't … E-E-Everytime I c-c-close my eyes, I s-s-see those images and … I will n-never forget this." 

He had seen Klaus lie in that dumpster. His clothes had been ripped and covered in dirt and blood. His pants had been hastily pulled back up but the fly and the button had remained undone. His eyes had been open and staring into the early morning sky and the last stars that had still been visible in the narrow piece of sky that he would have seen in that alleyway between two buildings. He had seen the blood clinging to his face and the way his body had been positioned between that garbage. The guy had not even tried to make it look decent. He had just thrown him in. Just like that. He could have left Klaus wherever he had attacked him. That would have been better. He could have placed him anywhere else and it would have been better. Instead, this man had thrown his brother into a dumpster. Not because he had wanted to get rid of the body but because he had wanted to make a statement. Whoever that man was, to him, Klaus had been nothing but trash. His precious brother, the one who had made him smile even in the darkest of times, who had curled up with him in bed after a nightmare, who had sit by his side when he was ill … thrown away like a piece of trash. 

"You shouldn't have-"

"Yes, I know but I did!" He bit out hard and biting before emptying his glass again. "I did and now it's all I can think about. I can't fucking listen to one more of your ‘remember when Klaus did this funny thing’ story because all I see now is my brother lying in a dumpster! And I wasn't there when this guy attacked him. I wasn't there to protect him!"

"It's not your job to protect him!" Luther shot back and slammed both hands on the bar between him and Diego, now only inches apart from his brother, the bottle he had been holding discarded to the side.

"Yes, it is!" Outside thunder was clapping and the rain that had started falling right after Klaus had been put in the ground, was pounding against the large windows of the living room. As he looked at the face of his remaining three siblings, however, all he could see was pity for him. They were pitying him. They thought that he had lost his mind. They thought that his grief had made him lose it. They weren't completely wrong, he supposed. He had lost it when he saw Klaus on that table. He had destroyed his entire apartment after he had seen the photos. Al had even threatened to kick him out when he saw what a mess he made. 

"You don't get it." He whispered with a small shake of his head. "None of you do. I was supposed to protect him and I failed him and now…" Now he couldn't even tell Klaus anymore how sorry he was or how much he loved him, how much he cared and worried and wanted him safe. He got up from his barstool and grabbed the bottle of whiskey he had helped himself to. 

"You just don't get it." He repeated and made his first staggering steps towards the archway that led into the entrance hall. The sound of the front door opening and then falling shut, made him pause in his steps, however. 

The unexpected sound made him glance back over his shoulder at his siblings. They were all here, right? Everyone that lived was here, except Reginald, Pogo, and Mom, but neither of those three had any reason to go outside that late. Then, he heard heavy footsteps coming from the front door, heading in their direction. It was a weird shuffling like from someone who didn't have the strength left to lift his feet properly.

He didn't have any knives with him. Not today. He was still wearing the fucking suit that he had worn to Klaus’ funeral, after all. Luther was coming up behind him and he could feel him square his shoulders without needing to see it. At least he was not the only one hearing those sounds. It seemed to take an eternity until the shuffling had reached the archway. This late at night, the house was dark, except for the lights inside the living room. For a moment, Diego could see nothing but the dark silhouette of a person standing right in front of him before the next bolt of lightning outside the large windows illuminated the room enough for him to make out a pale face that was layered in dirt, a mop of curly hair, a torn, dirty suit, water dripping from pale fingertips to the ground.

His heart stopped at the sight before him and behind him, his siblings took a collective, audible gasp. Their dead brother gave a grunt of recognition before shuffling past Diego and Luther. No one seemed to dare move a muscle as they watched how the phantom was slowly approaching the bar, grabbed the bottle of vodka that Allison had opened earlier, and took a long swig straight from the bottle.

"Fuck" The zombie said. "I’m never doing that shit again. Worst trip if my life. Being buried alive is no fucking fun, you guys." They just stared at the dirt-covered figure, unable to say or do anything. They could only stare. At least he was sure now, that he was not the only one seeing what he saw. "Let me tell you, I swallowed like two gallons of dirt while getting out of that hole. I think we should reintroduce that bell thingy from the olden days? Remember? Where people had a little thread attached to their finger that was then attached to a bell outside the grave so that they could chime the bell if they would wake up in their grave. Would have come in handy for me."

"Klaus…" Vanya whispered with eyes as big as saucers but still, none of them were brave enough to approach their brother as if he was a wild animal that would lash out at them otherwise.

"What?" Klaus turned to face them again. "You look like you’ve seen a ghost." 

His first impulse was to punch Klaus but instead, he bridged the distance between them and pulled him into his arms. He didn't care about all that dirt and how wet Klaus’ suit was from the rain outside. As he broke down in tears over his dead brother’s return to him, he didn't care about anything - not even that he was losing his face in front of his other siblings. It just didn't fucking matter. 

He could feel his brother in his arms as he squeezed him as tightly as he could. He could feel his curls tickle the side of his face and how Klaus, after a moment of surprise, melted against him and put his own arms around him. He was alive. This was real. 

"Can’t breathe!" Klaus wheezed out after a moment and Diego immediately let go of him as if burned only to be repaid by Klaus grinning tiredly at him - his teeth a stark contrast to his dirt-covered face.

"How … How is that even possible?" Luther whispered. "You were  _ dead _ . You were … there was an autopsy … your jaw was wired shut … you were dead …  _ dead _ ."

"Yeah" Klaus shrugged as if they were talking about the weather. 

He didn't get the chance to answer, however, as they heard the footfalls of another person coming from the entrance hall. There was only one other person who would have been alarmed by the sound of the door, only one person who had probably been watching everything through the security cameras that were still mounted on the walls, only one person who would now approach them in this tense moment. Diego barely turned his head to look at Reginald as he approached and walked into the room. He didn't even look surprised to see his dead son standing there. He only took a quick glance at his pocket watch before directing his gaze back at Klaus.

"What in God’s name took you so long?" 

His brother didn't even seem surprised about the question. Instead, he just untangled himself from Diego and took a step towards Reginald, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation before putting them on his hips. "Oh I don't know, I don't know … Traffic was a bitch, you see?" He snarled at their father with as much bite as Diego remembered from their teenage years. "Yeah, you see the bus … just wouldn't come, right? Or maybe it was the fact that I was literally buried UNDER SIX FEET OF FUCKING DIRT AND HAD TO CLAW MYSELF OUT OF THERE?" 

It was rare to hear Klaus shout - especially at their father. He had always been rebellious, always been a bit of a prick but he was not a shouter. As Diego looked at his other siblings, he grew aware that they too were as flabbergasted and confused as he was. Neither one of them had any idea what was happening right now or why Reginald was not surprised to see Klaus come back from the dead - let alone why Klaus was not surprised to be approached like this by their father. Nothing made any sense.

"Wait a moment" Vanya suddenly chimed up with horror on her face. Apparently, at least she started to have an idea about what was happening here. "Are you … Are you telling me that you  _ knew  _ he would come back?" She directed her words at Reginald who didn't even have the fucking decency to look ashamed or uncomfortable about any of this. He stood there with this self-righteous unmoving cold expression on his face that Diego knew all too well from his childhood nightmares. 

"She’s right … Isn't, she?" Allison whispered. "You knew it. You knew he wasn't dead."

"Oh, your brother was dead," Reginald replied matter of factly, his voice bare any emotion. "And since by the time the police called us there had already been an autopsy, I thought that his chances of returning from the beyond again were very slim this time around."

"Again?" Vanya echoed with horror written all over her face.

"What do you mean ‘ _ this time' _ ?" Luther chimed in as well.

His siblings were storming their father with questions but Diego had to hold onto Klaus’ wrist to steady himself because otherwise he would find the nearest sharp object and throw it at Reginald. He couldn't breathe and when he found Klaus’ hand tangle with his, it was Diego who finally addressed his father with dark eyes, a narrowed chin, and anger radiating from him in waves.

"You knew that he could come back from the dead and you allowed us to bury him?" He asked slowly in a low voice even though he was trembling from head to toe with righteous fury. "You let the funeral home wire his jaw shut and pump him with formaldehyde and all that crap even though you knew he had this ability? YOU LET US FUCKING MOURN OUR DEAD BROTHER EVEN THOUGH YOU KNEW HE WOULD COME BACK? YOU LET HIM ALONE IN HIS FUCKING COFFIN IN HIS GRAVE?"

"I don't accept you raising your voice at me like that, Number Two." His father replied sternly.

"I don't give a crap!"

"I didn't know he would return from the dead this time." Reginald then explained. "He had already been dead for hours when the police called. Usually, it never took him that long. I concluded that, when he hadn't returned from the dead by the time we would bury him, his drug use had tampered with this ability of his as well and prohibited him from using it. I was 90% sure that he was dead for good this time."

"You still haven't told us what you meant with  _ ‘this time’ _ ." Luther now snarled and as Diego looked at Number One, he seemed just as furious as Diego felt. Well, that was certainly new. "How often has something like this happened before?" 

"I died" Klaus began quietly but all anger seemed to have left him now. He seemed just drained and tired. "when I was seven, for the first time."

" _ What? _ " Allison thundered. 

"Yeah … remember that time when I decided it was a good idea to coat the upstairs hallway in soap water and slide down and hit my head real hard on that wall when I fell? Well, turned out I broke my neck. Five minutes later I got up as if nothing happened."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Diego whispered towards his brother, suddenly feeling an odd sensation of betrayal stab him right in the gut. He had always thought that he knew everything about Klaus. Reginald cut Klaus off before he could say anything.

"I forbade him to tell you. I was sure that it would impact your teamwork if any of you would know about this because it meant you wouldn't need to watch out for your brother as much as the others when you were on missions. I wanted to avoid something like this." Reginald droned on as if this was just one more of his stupid lessons. "And I wanted to avoid word getting out to the media about this ability. Keeping this ability a secret from everyone served us more than it harmed us." 

"No." Luther growled. "No, that's not it! Klaus would have told us regardless, he never cared for your rules or what he could and couldn't tell us! You told him that we wouldn't care if he was injured on missions if we would know, right? You planted that seed in his head that we would care less about him if we would know that he is immortal! You made him fear that we would ignore him if he needed our help!" 

"And you experimented on him, didn't you?" Allison voiced her anger next. "You did! How many times did you kill him to see what he could come back from?" 

"That's quite enough now!"

"No!" Vanya shouted. "No, it's not because we buried our brother alive today! He was alive! And you let us bury him!" 

"You are a monster," Diego whispered and his father was about to say something in response, just as Diego plucked the knife that Luther had used before to peel an apple from the counter of the bar. It weighed heavily in his hand. The sensation was familiar like an old friend, as was the hatred and the rage that he felt towards Sir Reginald Hargreeves.

"Diego, no!" Vanya screamed before he could throw the knife but it was Klaus’ hand stopping the motion.

Sir Reginald stared him down for a moment and said nothing before he gave a small huff as if amused by his outburst, turned around, and left his children alone in the room to fully process everything that had just happened to them. If he was smart, Diego thought, he would lock his door tonight. 

Over an hour later, Klaus sat on his bed with Diego, clean now after the bath he had taken, the colorful bouquet of bruises left by his attacker still visible though healed to some extent. After Reginald had left them behind, Klaus hadn't been able to keep up any kind of charade for much longer. He had been exhausted by the events of the day and Diego had been happy to escort him upstairs and to draw him a bath. He hadn't left his side once. Not even with Klaus in the tub, afraid he would be gone if he would look away for just one second. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" Diego asked quietly as he stared at his brother and still couldn't believe it that Klaus had returned to him like this. It was a miracle, a second chance, and no matter what Klaus’ powers were, he wouldn’t squander it. It didn't matter, that he could come back from the dead like it was nothing. 

"I didn't think that any of you guys would believe me." It hurt and struck him harder than he was ready to admit. Klaus was right, though, they would have probably not believed him. That was who they were as a family. They never listened to their beloved Number Four. He had a feeling that this would change now.

"I’m sorry," Diego whispered. "I’m so sorry that you didn't think that you could tell me, that you didn't think that I would believe you. I should've been there for you. I should’ve made sure you would know that I believed you. I was … I was a horrible brother."

"No, you weren't, idiot." Klaus smiled. "You were always there for me."

"But I didn't protect you. I wasn't there when you needed me the most. I didn't help you when this guy attacked you."

"You can't always be there." Klaus deflected with a tired wave of his left hand.

"Do you remember that night?"

"Sure."

"And do you remember who-"

"Yes."

"You need to talk to the police." Even though he wanted to go after that man himself, to kill him and dump him somewhere nobody would ever find him. Having him taken in by the police would be the right way, the proper way. He was no killer. He wanted justice.

"Okay, Dee." Klaus sighed and leaned his head on his shoulder. By now, he seemed hardly able to keep his eyes open. "When I woke up in that coffin … first, I wasn't sure where I was, then I thought I finally reached the afterlife and then I was … so afraid. I tried screaming but no one heard me. I think this might’ve been the worst Dad ever did to me." He whispered and through the fabric of his shirt, he could feel the tears that fell from Klaus’ tired eyes. It had to have been a complete and utter nightmare this experience he had gone through. He knew that he would have nightmares about the sheer imagery of this horror his brother had to suffer through. "Yeah … yeah, that takes the cake."

"I thought I heard something" Diego confessed silently. "When Luther and I left the graveyard. I should have checked."

"Don't be ridiculous now." Klaus sighed and grabbed Diego’s hand to pull his arm around himself. He used to do this during their childhood. Diego could remember Klaus doing this when he felt cuddly and Diego didn't react the way he wanted him to right away. He wanted to cry as that thought entered his mind and wouldn't let him go again. He wanted to bawl his eyes out just because he had Klaus in his arms again and still couldn't explain this miracle. 

"Hey, remember that time when I ate all the cookie batter and puked for days? Fun times…"

Diego bit out a sob. It was a small little ugly thing but once it had slipped out, he couldn't stop. He was unable to bite back the tears or the sobs that were wrecking his entire body but Klaus was there, snuggling closer and brushing thin fingers gently through his short hair to soothe him.


End file.
